COUNTY HOMELESS NUMBERS UP FOR ’11

More than 700 volunteers helped with Jan. census

Tom Peak, Jr.(he is not a veteran) who is homeless and living on the streets for the past 5-years was earlier interviewed for the survey by volunteer Marshall Merrifield.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Photo By Nelvin C. Cepeda U-T San Diego

Tom Peak, Jr.(he is not a veteran) who is homeless and living on the streets for the past 5-years was earlier interviewed for the survey by volunteer Marshall Merrifield.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Photo By Nelvin C. Cepeda U-T San Diego

8.6% Increase in region’s homeless population compared with 2011 figure.

An improving economy has not reduced the number of homeless residents in San Diego County, according to preliminary data released Tuesday.

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless said the area’s homeless population now stands at approximately 9,800, an 8.6 percent increase compared with the 2011 figure. The total comes from a census conducted Jan. 27 between 5 and 8 a.m.

The nonprofit group reported the following breakdown: about 5,300 unsheltered residents, a year-over-year increase of 6.4 percent, and roughly 4,500 homeless people living in shelters or other temporary housing, an 11.4 percent rise.

“We are disappointed that the numbers have gone up, and are at the same time optimistic that we can bring them down,” said task force director Peter Callstrom. “There are a lot of terrific initiatives in place and progress being made. However, with the challenges we all face with the economic crisis, lack of affordable housing, lack of funding for services and the complex nature of homelessness, the reality is the numbers are increasing locally.”

Aside from economics, part of the increase could be attributed to having more volunteers for January’s count than in years past. There were more than 700 volunteers this year; last year, there were about 550.

As part of the census, workers conducted 150-question interviews with roughly 750 homeless people. The final data will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by the end of April, Callstrom said. A city-by-city breakdown of the county’s homeless population and demographic results from the interviews also will be completed soon.

The federal agency mandates census counts of the homeless nationwide. It uses the data to determine funding for a variety of programs aimed at getting people off the streets.

People living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, hotels and motels were counted among the sheltered homeless. For the unsheltered homeless category, volunteers conducted a visual count of people sleeping in parks, riverbeds, canyons, beaches and other places not meant for human habitation.

“Despite the increase, we do remain optimistic, because we’re seeing people leaving the streets every day,” Callstrom said. “There’s a wonderful support network, but we need the support of every member of our community to make the great advances we’re hoping for.”

Organizers admit that the one-day census, which is called a Point-in-Time Count, cannot account for every homeless person in the county.

Bob McElroy, president and CEO of the Alpha Project in San Diego, estimated that the Regional Task Force’s count is under-reporting the homeless population by 25 percent to 30 percent.

McElroy said some veterans, migrants, urban campers and the “situationally homeless” — people who are sleeping on friends’ and family members’ couches, for example — are not being tabulated. McElroy also faulted the hours of the census, which he said are when homeless people typically blend in with the community at large.

“It’s a very unscientific count,” McElroy said. “There are significant amounts of people who are not being counted.”